"Exiles in Ameni'ca" Ken Smith

Exiles in America and the Christian’s Heavenly Citizenship

Lord God Almighty, as we stand before your throne of grace this morning, we thank you, Lord, for your goodness and mercy. Not to us, oh Lord, not to us. Lord, we pray this morning that you would open the eyes of our hearts, help us to see the glory of Christ as we look at your word.

Lord, would you help us today to listen attentively, not to what I have to say, but to what you have to say, Lord, through your word. Lord, I am but a poor mouthpiece, but I know that your spirit is able to speak through men of stammering tongue.

So I pray, Lord, that you would give us ears to hear. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I am glad to live in this country. America is a great nation. I would not want to live anywhere else. The blessings of living in this country are too numerous to list.

But as great as America is, and as grateful as we are to God for the blessings of liberty that we enjoy in this country, America, for the Christian, is not ultimate. Hebrews chapter 11 opens by telling us about the faith of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob.

And then in verse 13 we read,. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar. And having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one.

Likewise, Paul wrote to the Philippians, who were quite proud of their status and privileges as a Roman colony. He said in Philippians 3 verse 20,. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.

So it should come as no surprise to us that Peter would address believers scattered throughout the world as elect exiles. First Peter 1 .1. And that he would say that the days of your life should be considered as the time of your exile.

Chapter 1 verse 17. Consequently, God's peculiar people who have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light have been called out in order to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you. That's why Peter goes on to say, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. What is the honorable conduct that we are to practice?

What are the good deeds we are supposed to do? How can we, as aliens and exiles in America, make a difference for the Lord's sake? That's precisely where Peter turns his attention in the next verses that we're going to look at this morning of his first epistle.

Followers of Christ live in this world, but are not of this world. We are elect exiles whose citizenship is in heaven, who are looking for a better country, a heavenly one. Nevertheless, the counsel the Lord gave to the exiles in Babylon is a good word for us who are exiles in America.

In Jeremiah 29 verse 7, the Lord said to them, But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. It's in that spirit that Peter writes 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 13 through 17.

So if you have your Bibles, I hope that you would turn there with me, and if you would stand with me as we read these few verses. 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 13 through 17. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil, and to praise those who do good.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. You may be seated. The title of my message this morning is Exiles in America. And while Peter wasn't writing to people in America directly, what he has to say applies very much to us as Christians living in this country.

How are we, as people whose citizenship is in heaven, how are we to conduct ourselves during the days of our exile? Christians in exile are called here by Peter to glorify God by being good citizens wherever they're at.

We are blessed to be in this country. And those blessings carry with it responsibility. And Peter points out to us the responsibilities that we as Christians have, whatever country we live in. If we call ourselves by the name of Christian.

The God-Ordained Role of Human Government

So the first thing I want you to see here in this passage is that Christians, during the time of their exile, are to glorify God by being good citizens, by respecting the God-ordained role of human government.

We're called to respect the God-ordained role of human government. Human government has been ordained and established by God. One place in Scripture where you want to keep your finger today is in Romans 13, because we'll go back there more than once.

In Romans 13, the last part of verse 1, and then into the beginning of verse 2. There Paul says, Daniel chapter 2, verse 21. It says of God that he changes times and seasons. And he removes kings and sets up kings.

But what happens in the world around us in the realm of government and politics is not merely the workings of people who are hungry for power. Ultimately, God is at work there. And sometimes he works through human rulers to bless people.

And sometimes he works through human government to bring discipline upon people. He raises up kings, and he removes them. So it's important that we understand, first of all, that human government is ordained and established by God.

And Peter tells us that we have a duty as Christians to submit to the government. Going back to Romans chapter 13, verse 1, the first part of verse 1. There Paul says, Paul carries that over. In Titus chapter 3, verse 1.

To a people who were not always the most disciplined, Paul tells Titus, Peter carries that over. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Our obedience to government, our submission to the government, is to our benefit by and large.

But Peter points out something that is worth noting, and that is that we do it not just for our own benefit, but we do it for the Lord's sake. To bring glory to him. Christian people, of all people, ought to be the best citizens.

Because we act in accordance with our obedience to God. So, we have a duty to submit to the government. Think about the people to whom Peter was writing here, and the time in which they lived. Who is the emperor to whom they are to give their allegiance, their submission?

It's Nero. Not exactly a poster child for good government. And yet, Peter says, Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. To those who make the laws. Now, we need to note that when Peter says, Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, that that submission does not mean blind obedience.

It does not even mean absolute obedience. When Peter talks about every human institution, he's telling us, as Warren Wiersbe notes, he said, It does not refer to each individual law, but to the institutions that make and enforce the laws.

It is possible, Wiersbe says, to submit to the institutions and still disobey the laws. That's an important distinction that we need to think about and wrestle with. It is possible to submit to the institutions and still disobey the laws.

We have good scriptural precedent for that. Think about Daniel and his three friends. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were their Hebrew names, but we probably remember them more as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which was their Babylonian names that they were given.

When they were brought to Babylon in the first wave of exiles that were taken from Jerusalem, because they were among the best and the brightest, they were brought into the king's court, and they were groomed then for service in the Babylonian kingdom.

They were taught the ways of Babylon. They were taught about the method of governing that was employed there. And it was also pressed upon them that they should eat like the Babylonians eat. And while Daniel and his friends could go along with some of the things that they were being subjected to, they could not go along with that.

But rather than just staging a sit-down strike, a hunger strike, what did they do? They appealed to the person who was over them to say, this is a violation of our conscience. We cannot eat what the king would have us to eat.

And so they proposed to the man that was over them that they run a little experiment. Say, let us eat the way we want to eat for a while, and then you can compare how we're doing with everybody else. So again, they didn't try to bring about some sort of open rebellion.

They didn't act in such a way as to get the guy over them in trouble. But they did uphold their own sense of duty and conscience before God. They disobeyed, but they still honored the institution. Think about Peter and the other apostles in the early church, in the early chapters of the Book of Acts.

They were called in more than once by the Sanhedrin and charged not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus. The Sanhedrin was tired of being maligned by being pointed at as being the guilty party in the death of Jesus.

Well, they were guilty, but they just didn't want to hear it anymore. And so they said, no longer are you to preach in the name of Jesus. Peter and the apostles responded very much like Daniel and his friends.

They didn't seek to create rebellion in the city. They did not deny the basic authority of the Jewish ruling council. But what did they say? You judge for yourselves whether it is right for us to be quiet about this matter.

But as for us, we must obey God rather than man. They sought to honor the institution and yet remained faithful to God in the process. And when push came to shove, if they had to make a choice, which they were being forced to do, they said, we must follow God.

Now, normally, duties to God and government do not conflict. Jesus said, render to Caesar that which is Caesar and give to God that which is God's. Nine times out of ten or maybe even more often, you can live as a faithful Christian and live under the authority of the established government.

But if and when conflict comes between God and government, the scripture is clear. We must obey God rather than man. We find ourselves in this country in at least one area where we, I think, are being called to make a choice.

Yesterday, there was a rally here in our church park parking lot to abolish abortion. And I don't know how many of you were aware of that or not. But if you weren't, I hope you will become aware as time passes.

Abortion is one of those things in this country where we have after 44 years of it, we've kind of grown used to it. Not that you can ever really become used to what abortion is and what it does. But the truth of the matter is, we do not think about it that much anymore.

And sadly, what we find, I think, in this country are people who are pro-life, but they've become content with nibbling at the issue around the edges without ever really taking a strong stand for life itself.

We seek to regulate it and put up little fences here and there. But in the end, what we do allows the practice to continue. It is interesting, as I've been made aware, that there were points in time in our own nation's history where for the sake of obedience to God's word, people defied our government.

Think back to the middle 1800s. What was permitted by decree of the Supreme Court and by the laws of Congress? We had passed in those days a law called the Fugitive Slave Law, which said that if you come across a slave that has run away, you are under obligation by law to return that slave to its owner.

There were states that said, no, the law is wrong. They are people, not possessions. The Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that slaves were property. States defied the ruling of the Supreme Court.

And eventually, slavery was abolished because of the efforts of a whole movement of people who were abolitionists. They weren't content to say we can deal with slavery bit by bit, bite by bite, and maybe over 100 years we can get rid of it.

No, they said it's wrong. It is wrong before God. Therefore, we cannot do anything but say it is sin. It is wrong. And we will stand for the rights of human beings. So what do we have with babies in the womb who are not yet born, but nevertheless, they are human?

They have human parents. They are eating. They are growing. They are developing. They are human. And yet we say, well, as long as we don't cut them up after they're 20 weeks old, that's OK. It's not OK.

One of the things that was said yesterday at the rally that has stuck with me, and we have succumbed to this lie, is to think that abortion is a political idea. It's a political football to be kicked around.

It's not political.

It's moral.

And so there are times, as we see with Daniel, as we have seen with Peter and the apostles, as we've seen in our nation's own history, and I think where we find ourselves today, is that when it comes to an issue particularly like abortion, that we have to say, no, it's wrong.

Before God, it's wrong. It's ironic, I think, that we have today states that defy federal law in legalizing marijuana. And I haven't seen any vast effort by the federal government to send in the National Guard to shut down the sale of marijuana in Colorado or Oregon or any other place where it's legal.

States have said, we can make that determination ourselves, what we want to do. Can we not, as the people of God in this state, say that abortion is wrong and we will not allow it in this state? Now, you may think, well, if we do that, then the federal government's going to come in and crack down on us.

Probably.

But I say to you again what Peter said to the Sanhedrin. We must obey God rather than men. Something for you to think about. Submission to the government does not mean absolute obedience, particularly when the government calls upon us to disobey God.

Submission to the government means that we support the proper role of government. And this, too, is an area where we have become very foggy in our day. The role of government has expanded far beyond certainly the biblical boundaries that are set and way beyond the boundaries that our founding fathers set.

What does Peter say here is the proper role and function of government? Basically, it is twofold. To punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. To deal with those who are lawbreakers, who justly deserve to be punished, and to protect those who do the right things.

Again, back in Romans chapter 13, Paul gives a little further fleshing out of this idea of the proper role of government. In Romans 13, verse 3 and following, he says,. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.

Pay to all what is owed them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. So, we as Christians are to respect the God-ordained role of human government.

It has been established by God. It provides the direction, regulation, control, and restraint that we need in a fallen world. If everyone were under the control of the Holy Spirit, were seeking to glorify God in their lives, we would be in heaven.

There would not be any need for human government. But here in this fallen world, we need government. God knows that, and he established it for our good. So, as we live here in exile, respect the God-ordained role of human government.

Doing Good in a Crooked and Perverse Generation

Christians are also, during the time of our exile here, to respond by doing good, regardless of whatever the government does. Verse 15, he says,. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Now, he's kind of there referring back to what he said just a few verses earlier in verse 12. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Governments and individuals often act ignorantly and foolishly. But their ignorance and their foolishness does not give us license to respond in like manner. We are to live godly, upright lives in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

Someone has said that no government that consistently rewards evil and punishes good can long survive, because evil is ultimately self-destructive. Obviously, there are laws made by governments that support evil.

But when evil is rewarded and good is punished, ultimately those governments will implode. They cannot support the weight of a society. But even in the midst of that kind of behavior, those kind of decisions by a government, Christians are still called to do good.

Paul wrote to the Galatians in Galatians chapter 5. You're familiar with these verses about the fruit of the Spirit. It says,. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law. In other words, if the law tells you to not act in accordance with love and kindness and gentleness and so forth, do the right thing. Because it's the right thing to do.

Such things are never against God's law. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, verses 13 through 16,. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket.

But set it on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

No matter what the culture around us may be like, no matter what they might promote, we, as followers of Christ, are called to do good. Thirdly, Peter tells us that in the time of our exile, Christians are called to reveal genuine freedom by living as servants of God.

Freedom Found in Serving God, Not the Flesh

Peter makes an interesting statement here when you stop to think about it. He says, only slaves of God can live as free men and women. Only slaves of God can live as free men and women. Our founding fathers understood that.

I think it was John Adams that said, our form of government was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. They understood the importance of the work of God in redeeming human hearts to transform people so that they might live as free men and women under God's law.

Plato supposedly one time asked, how can a man be happy who is the servant of anything? In response, J .I. Packer would say, whether being a servant is a matter for shame or pride depends on whose servant one is.

We are called to be servants of God. Bond slaves is the word that Paul uses here. Faith in Jesus Christ sets us free. Sets us free from bondage to sin and Satan and selfish desires. Jesus said in John chapter eight, you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.

And later he says, he whom the son has set free is free. Indeed, real freedom is not guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence or our Constitution. That's merely a temporal freedom. Real freedom is found in Christ alone.

We enjoy great blessings of liberty in this country for which we all need to be thankful. But whether you live in America or in the middle of Tibet, you can be free in Christ. As God's free people live as servants of God.

Live not, Peter says, as servants of the flesh. Don't use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Live as servants of God. More often than not, I am very frustrated with government. And a lot of the time, I just want to wash my hands of it all and say, just do what you're going to do.

Just let me live my life. That's not the right attitude. We are called to be godly citizens. We have a responsibility to be salt and light in this generation. And we have a responsibility to the generations that follow.

Our posterity. And as frustrating as it is and as difficult as it becomes, Peter reminds us that as God's chosen people, we are called to make a difference in this world. We are to live differently so that we might make a difference to the glory of God for the sake of his kingdom.

I think we as Christians, I know for me, we often swing to extremes when it comes to our relationship with government. Either we put too much hope in it or we isolate ourselves from it. Neither is right.

I don't know if you were able to pick up on the way in a handout that I had on the podium in the back. This was something that I came across a number of years ago. Justin Taylor on his blog at the Gospel Coalition pulled these ten things from the writings of J.

I would challenge you to pronounce his name. J. Budziszewski. That's how you say his name. He's a professor at the University of Texas, which proves that there are some good things that come out of Texas.

But I think this is a helpful overview. When we think about the government and our relationship to it as Christians, I think he takes us through some valuable things to remember. Number one, God is the true sovereign.

He ordained all human government for the good of man whom he made in his image. Number two, although God originally chose only one nation, he ultimately desires to draw all nations into the light of his word.

Number three, he disciplines the nations according to their deeds. He also disciplines their rulers. Number five, in general, disobedience to human government is disobedience to God. Indeed, government deserves not only obedience but honor, as we have read.

But there are exceptions. Any governmental edict that contradicts the commands of God must be disobeyed. Number seven, the just purposes of human government include the commendation of good, the punishment of evil, the maintenance of peace, and the protection of the oppressed.

In pursuance of these purposes, God authorizes human government to use force on his behalf and, in grave cases, even to take life, though never deliberately to take the life of the innocent. Number nine, yet human government cannot fully or permanently redress wrong because it cannot uproot sin from the human heart.

This can only be done by the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. Moreover, the community of redemption is not the state but the church. No matter how much respect is due to the state, the church is never to be identified with it.

I think those are helpful as we consider what it means to live as exiles in America. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Would you pray with me? Lord, I hope that I have been faithful to your word.

Lord, if I have spoken wrongly or out of turn in any way, I pray that you would make that clear and that you would guard our hearts by your truth. Lord, may we glorify you as followers of Christ, seeking to be salt and light in this world, in this nation.

Lord, we are a people in need of revival, in need of repentance, in need of cleansing. And as Peter will tell us a little bit later, it is time for repentance to begin with the household of God. Lord, forgive us when we are quick to point fingers at others without examining our own hearts before you.

Lord, like Esther, you have set us here in this time and in this place for the purpose of your glory. May we be faithful as followers of Christ to honor you in all our ways. We give you glory and honor and praise in the name of Jesus.

Amen.